Lesson video

Hello, I'm Mr. Nicholson, and welcome to this lesson on anxiety.

We'll be talking about some personal issues here so before we start the lesson, if you want to talk to somebody at home, please do so.

We have issue in here that may affect you and they are quite personal.

So at any point in the lesson if you want to stop, ask me a question, please do so.

That'd be really good for you and help you develop your understanding as well.

You'll need an exercise book and a piece of paper during this lesson and a pen.

There are a number of activities that I want you to complete.

And I also want you to make some notes as we go along.

If you haven't got them, go and get them now.

Before we start this lesson you should have completed an introductory quiz, if you haven't done so stop the video and complete it now.

It will help establish a basis for your learning in this lesson.

We're then going to move on in the lesson.

and look at the idea of what do we mean by anxiety.

Look to definition of what it actually is.

We're then going to talk about the impact that anxiety has on our lives.

As I said before, if you need to stop the video at any point and talk to somebody, please do so.

We're also going to look at how we handle anxiety before I'm going to ask you to complete your exit quiz at the end, and that will help consolidate your learning.

You may have heard the word anxiety before, probably in the media or at school.

What do you think the word actually means? What I'd like you to do now is to pause the video and write down maybe bullet point it, spider diagram it, what you think the word anxiety means.

When you're ready, press play, and we'll look at the definition and compare it with yours.

What I'd like to do now is looking at the definition of anxiety and think about these three questions.

They'll help you refine that definition even more.

So spend some time thinking about these clearly and maybe adding to your own notes.

Have you ever had worries? Have you ever felt stressed about something? Have you ever felt as if there was too much to do? Think about these in terms of your definition of anxiety and add to it if you need to.

In a moment, we'll look at what anxiety is.

Here we are then.

The definition of anxiety is it's your body's natural response to stress.

Ensure you've got the word natural and ensure you've got the word stress somewhere in your definition, your ideas.

It's going to be really important that we look at the idea of this being a natural process of our bodies.

And as you can see here, I've highlighted in bold natural response to stress.

because that's the really important piece of learning here.

And we need to remember that so that we move forward.

What I'd now like you to do is to write down a few things you worry about.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, this can be quite personal to you so if you want to stop and talk to somebody about this before you do it, please do so.

Or when you finished it, talk to somebody as well.

When you've done that one press play.

Here are 12 things I think you might've included.

They will relate to you personally so they may be different as well.

Remember, if any of these are worrying you now, please talk to somebody.

You might want to stop the video, talk to them now, or talk to them at the end.

But ensure that you do share those worries with people.

What I'd like you to do now is to choose four of the things off your list and say why you worry about them.

Think about the reason behind it and try and be as clear as possible in what you're thinking.

In order to do this, you'll need to pause the video but when you're ready, press play.

Here are four things I've often heard people talking about in my own school about what they worry about and why.

Options, not knowing what to choose for the future.

Global warming because of rising sea levels.

We see that a lot in the news and it worries people.

Homework, when are you going to have the time to do it, but also, own clothes day, what are you going to wear so that you don't stand out.

These are all important things that people worry about and reasons why they worry about them.

Think about what we just looked at in terms of the definition and why people worry.

Here's a statement, either true or false.

Pause the video and think what you think it would be.

Everyone suffers from anxiety at some point in their life.

When you're ready, press play.

Having thought about it, here is the answer.

It's true.

What I'd like you to do is write down explanation for what you think.

Why do you think that everyone suffers from anxiety at some point in their life? So once again, press pause, and when you're ready, carry on with the lesson.

Here's my answer.

At some point, everyone will fell anxious about something in their life, but what have I missed? Yes, I've missed out here the idea of worry and that's something you need to make sure you've put in.

So add it to your own definition if it's not there at the moment.

We all worry about something in our lives and that's natural.

However, if we worry for too long, that's where we need to talk to somebody about it.

It's a natural state, however, if we carry on worrying and our anxiety goes on for a long time, we should talk to somebody about that.

Remember earlier I asked you to write down what worries you.

We're going to use that list now.

Look back to that list and say, how did you feel in those situations? How does anxiety make you feel? Be honest with yourself and write down what you thought at the time about what your body was telling you.

We'll look at those in a minute.

So press pause, and when you're ready play the video.

Here's some of the words I've come up with.

See which you have got the same or similar.

If you need to add anymore, pause the video now.

Weak, sad, sweaty, confused, angry, a racing heart, worn out, tearful, sick, lonely, dizzy, frustrated.

If you need to ask them all from this list, please do so to your own notes and When you're ready, press play.

Remember what I mentioned earlier that actually anxiety is part of our body's natural response to stress.

It's part of what's called our fight or flight response.

Now also remember that I mentioned that if it goes on for too long, it can actually be quite damaging to our mental wellbeing.

So talk somebody about if it's going on for too long.

We'll carry on now and we're going to look at what the fight or flight response actually is.

And here we are.

Our flight respond is a natural part of who we are.

It helps us stay healthy, it's part of our development.

In a situation we could decide to stay and fight once we'd weighed up the options.

The flight mechanism is if we thought we couldn't win the fight, our biological response to anxiety made it easier for us to run away.

So this the idea of fight or flight.

In any given situation, we are ready to either fight to win or flight to save ourselves.

This is a process that went on many thousands of years ago and was carried on to this day as part of our biological makeup.

As I said before, it's a natural part of who we are, fight or flight.

If you want to make some notes, please do so because it'll be important later on and it will be recalled in the exit quiz at the end.

When I mentioned fight or flight a moment ago, we talked about they are our physical and psychological responses to anxiety, and that's what I'm going to look at now with you.

How our body and our mind is prepared for anxiety and how it responds to it.

Here are four responses to anxiety.

Increased heartbeat, your breathing is quicker, the blood drains from your stomach and makes you feel hungry or your experience dizziness.

What I'd like you to do now is to pause the video and say why would this happen in terms of fight or flight.

Think carefully about what we looked at with fight or flight and think why are these responses to anxiety happening in us when we are stressed and we need to think about what we're going to do.

As I said before, refer it back to the idea of fight or flight.

Here are the reasons why in anxiety we have these responses.

Our heartbeat increases as blood is pumped around the body to help the fight or flight mechanism.

Our breathing quickens because we need more oxygen to get to the muscles in case we need to fight or flee from that situation, the flight mechanism.

The blood drains from the stomach and makes you feel hungry and causes butterflies.

You don't need your stomach anymore to digest food, you need the energy elsewhere.

And we feel dizzy because adrenaline takes the blood away from the brain to make your muscles stronger, i.

e.

, I fight or flight.

So all of these are either psychological responses from your brain telling your body to do something and having an impact on your physical being.

This is a common occurrence and it's part of the everyday process when relating to anxiety as it's natural.

You may have felt these before.

And think about those situations, you may think, "Well, I remember having that in that situation at that moment in time." And that's just a natural thing, it's part of the natural bodily processes we go through when we feel anxious.

Remember before I talked about the idea as it being a natural response to your body to anxiety, but they will affect your mental health.

And they can affect your mental health on a longterm basis if you're allowing anxiety to become a common part of your life.

If you need somebody and you're feeling anxious for a long period of time, please do so.

Talk somebody at home or in school and they will be able to help you.

Remember, anxiety is not dangerous to you, but it might stop you in the long-term doing what you want to do.

Therefore, if you can know the signs of it and you know if it was going on for a long time, please seek some support and guidance elsewhere.

As I said to you before, there people at home, in school or they'll be online organisations such as the NSPCC or ChildLine that can help you.

Now bearing in mind what I've just said, I'd like you to do this activity.

And when I've explained it to you pause the video and when you're ready, carry on.

I'd you like to write down some of the good things about anxiety and some of the bad things.

So make two lists.

Think all we've looked at around the idea of fight or flight.

Think about situations when you felt stressed or anxious.

But also remember what I've just said.

When you're ready to stop, press pause, and when you've completed your activity, press play.

Here are some of the ideas I've put down.

So maybe add these to your own lists, or maybe your list is complete already.

Good things are it's natural, it keeps you safe, fight or flight.

It tells you something is wrong and it can help you concentrate by sharpening your senses.

But the bad things are it may make you feel scared and or helpless.

Make you feel as though you got no control and can stop you doing what you want.

In those cases, as I said before, please talk to somebody at home, in school or online.

And there are many helplines there to help if you need to contact somebody.

Now I'd like to bring all your learning together in this one task.

I want you to write for me a helpful guide to anxiety, something we could give to people to explain what anxiety is and why they have it.

Remember the overarching message we've talked about it being natural, but if it goes on for too long, we need to find some help.

When you've finished it, resume by pressing play and we'll carry on to the end of the lesson.

But make sure you've got those 10 points written down for me, reflecting on everything we've done so far.

So let's check what you've done.

Did you define anxiety? Did you mention fight or flight? Did you give examples of what happens to the body? And did you give reasons why people may feel anxious? If you didn't, go back and review what you've done and add these in.

If you did well done, this is helping that 10 point plan to sort out why people are anxious and maybe guide them in what it actually is all about.

Now, here are two things I'd like to add to your 10 point plan to make it that 12 point plan.

Talk about anxiety, add in what you can do, to speak to a teacher, a friend or someone you trust.

And do something.

Exercise, eating healthily, sleeping well, relaxing and breathing slowly will all help with anxiety.

So please add on what people can do to help them with anxiety about talking about it and actually doing something physical.

In that way, we'll have completed our guide for people with anxiety.

Another thing that's helpful when dealing with anxiety is a special memory.

Why do you think that is? Spend a few moments thinking about why a special memory will help with anxiety.

And when you're ready, we'll carry on and see why it actually is.

But I want you to think about it first.

It's important that you get the idea in your mind because it might actually have helped you when you felt anxious in the past.

A special memory is personal to all of us.

However, there are certain reasons why it helps with anxiety.

You remember a time when you were happy, not anxious, and those feelings of happiness replace the feelings of anxiety.

Therefore, the brain realises you're no longer anxious or happiness has overtaken the anxiety, and what happens is, your body returns to normal.

But it's important not just remember the memory but the details of the memory.

What you were wearing, what you could hear, what you could smell and what you could see.

That makes the memory really strong and helps battle those feelings of anxiety.

But as I said before, if it goes on for a long time, please talk to somebody about it.

Many thanks for taking part in this lesson.

I know we've dealt with some sensitive issues, so well done.

And if you want to talk to somebody, please do so.

If you want to share your work with us, see the links below.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson, now complete your exit quiz because that really helped consolidate that learning.

And I hope to see you again soon, goodbye.